Fasteners for ski boots



March 16, 1965 TEUFEL FASTENERS FOR SKI BOOTS Filed June 3, 1963 INVENTORI 'h ALD 7Eu4=L--- 94% flTmPNEY.

United States Patent ice 1 Claim. a. 24-68) The present invention relates to fasteners for ski boots.

It is already conventional to provide ski boots with fasteners which when being closed exert upon the two closure flaps or quarters of the upper such a tension transversely to the instep that the adjacent edges of these flaps are moved toward and then over each other so that the boot will be tightly closed toward the outside against the entry of moisture or snow.

The conventional fasteners of ski boots are often provided with drawing members each of which is connected to a tightening lever which is secured to one of the closure flaps of the upper. 'In order to permit the tension to be changed which is exerted by the fastener, for example, for adapting the upper and the fastener to the particular shape of the foot and the height of the instep or for changing the fastener from a loose to a tight fit of the boot, such fasteners are generally designed so as to be adjustable accordingly. The conventional fasteners have, however, certain disadvantages. Thus, for example, one known fastener construction does not permit the drawing member to be infinitely adjusted and it is therefore impossible to carry out a fine adjustment of the fastener and the fitting of the boot which is required, for example, for skiing downhill. Another known fastener construction, although permitting a fine adjustment of the drawing member by the provision of a threaded extension thereon which may be screwed into a stationary nut, has the disadvantage that, if the threaded part becomes coated with ice, the drawing member can no longer be adjusted so that a tight strapping of the boot as set for a downhill run cannot be changed to a looser strapping for climbing uphill or skiing along level ground.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome these disadvantages of the known boot fasteners. For attaining this object, the invention provides a fastener for a ski boot which comprises a tightening lever which is pivotably secured to one of the two closure flaps of the upper, and a drawing member which is pivotably con nected to the lever and consists of a loop and a setscrew for the fine adjustment of the fastener. This setscrew is screwed into a nut which is pivotably connected to the tightening lever, while the end of the setscrew facing the edge of the closure flap is connected to the loop which for a coarse adjustment of the fastener may be hooked over any of several hooks spaced from each other on a plate which is secured to the other closure flap.

These and further features and advantages of the invention will become more clearly apparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of a ski boot which is equipped with fasteners according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 shows a perspective view of one of the fasteners with the tightening lever in the open position, in which the loop and setscrew of the drawing member are pivotably connected to each other;

FIGURE 3 shows a plan view of a similar fastener in the closed position; while FIGURE 4 shows a perspective view of a one-piece drawing member.

The ski boot as illustrated in FIGURE 1 is provided at the instep part with three fasteners according to the 3,173,182 Patented Mar. 16, 1965 invention. Each fastener comprises a tightening lever 3 which is pivotably mounted on a bearing bracket 4 which is secured to the outer flap 1 of the boot and consists of a plate 5 with a pair of spaced parallel arms 6 on its upper side in which a pivot pin 7 is mounted which is inserted through the side walls 8 and 9 of lever 3 which are spaced from each other. Lever 3 is therefore pivotable upwardly and downwardly about the pivot pin 7.

At a suitable distance from pivot pin 7 a nut 10-is pivotably mounted between the two side walls 8 and 9 of lever 3 and a setscrew 11 is screwed into this nut 10. For maintaining the setscrew 11 in a certain adjusted position, a check nut 12 is preferably screwed upon setscrew 11 and against the pivotable nut 10.

Setscrew 11 is connected to a loop 13 which may be hooked over one of the hooks 14 on a plate 15 which is secured to the inner flap 2 of the boot.

The two plates 5 and 15 are preferably secured to the flaps 1 and 2 of the boot by means of rivets which are inserted into bores 16 and 17 in these plates,

In the embodiments of the invention as illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3, the drawing 11, 13 consists of two parts which are pivotably connected to each other. For this purpose, setscrew 11 has an extension 11' which forms the bearing on which the loop 13 is pivotably mounted. Due to this pivotal connection of its two parts, the drawing member when in the closed position can adapt itself very well to the particular shape of the instep. The loop member 13 may be bent of a piece of stiff wire; it may, however, also consist of a flexible cable loop. Although a two-piece construction of the drawing member is preferred, it is also possible to make it of a single piece, as shown in FIGURE 4, in which the loop member 13 and the setscrew 11 are integrally connected. This one-piece drawing member may be of a rigid structure and bent to the desired shape or, more preferably, it may be made of a resilient material permitting its unthreaded part to bend resiliently in accordance with the shape of the instep.

:In the application of the device according to the invention, the skier at first coarsely adjusts the fastener by screwing the setscrew 11 into the pivotable nut 10, for example, to the center of its length, and after putting on the boot, by hooking the loop 13 over that hook 14 which is the most suitable for attaining the tightest possible fit of the boot on the foot. If the skier then determines that in this position the fastener draws the two flaps 1 and 2 of the boot either too tightly or not sufliciently together, he again loosens the lever 3 and unhooks the loop 13 and then screws the setscrew 11 farther in or out of the pivotable nut 10. He then hooks the loop 13 again over the same hook 14 and tightens the lever 3. The skier can thus attain a very accurate adjustment of the fastener so that the boot will be as tight on his foot as desired by him or as required by the particular kind of run to be made. The tight fit for which the setscrew is originally adjusted is generally used only for a downhill run, whereas thereafter a looser fit is usually desired. For this purpose, it is only necessary to pivot the lever 3 upwardly and then to hook the loop 13 over the next hook 14 toward the edge of the flap 1. Therefore, even though the setscrew 11 might be iced up, there is no difficulty in readjusting the fastener from a tight fit to a looser fit and back to the tight fit.

The different parts of the fastener may either be made of metal or of any other suitable materiaL Although my invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, I wish to have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiments, but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim A fastener for a ski boot of the type having closure flaps, said fastener providing both coarse and fine adjustment of tension comprising a plate member mounted on one of said closure 'fiapsj'andhaving a pair of spaced parallel arms, a lever having spaced parallel side walls and pivotally monnted to the arms of the plate member, a threaded nut pivotally mounted between said spaced parallel side walls of the lever, a set screw memberfor fine tension adjustment threaded at one end into said nut, said set screw member having an extension at its other end with bearing means thereon, and a lock member pivot l mou t d a on? 51 B h a of a d set screw member and having its other end formed into a securing member, a plurality of hoolgs on the other of said closure flaps .spaced different distances from said plate member whereby said securing member may b 4- then pivoted into a closed position so as to secure the closure flaps together.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 257,263 5/82 Wood 2471 272,101 2/83 Thompson 2470 348,872 9786 Wales 2471 371,082 10/87 Loder 24-71 513,727 1/94 Potts 24-70 627,987 7/99 Dick 24-270 2,706,648 4/55 Gosse 24-271 X 2,920,370 1/60 Gny 24271 3,132,392 5/64 Steinberg 24-70 QREIGN PA NTS 635,553 12/27 France.

13,567 1912 Great Britain. 148,258 3/21 Great Britain.

placed over a selected one of said hooks and the lever. 20 DQNLEY STOCKING, Primary Examiner 

